City of Westminster police will deploy a new team of 100 officers in an 'impact zone' of London’s West End that will be dedicated to making the area safer.

Launched with the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, the pilot scheme will initially run for for six months, targeting areas such as Leicester Square and Piccadilly Circus.

Westminster Borough Commander, Alison Newcomb, told London Live’s Wake Up London how the team will attempt to confront the problem area, which currently accounts for 48 per cent of crime in the borough.

“We’ve always policed the area, but now with the dedicated team, there’ll be increased visibility in an area with really high footfall and hopefully that will make people feel a lot safer,” said Newcomb.

“We’re hoping that it will drive down crime and that it will increase the number of offenders that get arrested.

“We really want to make it a hostile environment for offenders but also we want people that are visiting to London to come and actually feel safe and enjoy their time in the West End.”